THE following news release was jointly
issued by the representative organizations
of the Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish and
Ukrainian communities in Canada on April
6, 1994, and was published in the
Ukrainian Canadian Congress Headquarters'
BULLETIN (December
1993 - April 1994 edition).

April 6, 1994

UCC and
Three Other Congresses Take B'nai B'rith
Canada Official To Task

FOUR organizations
representing Canadians of eastern European
origin have joined in protest against
recent remarks by a B'nai B'rith Canada
official that the rise of in anti-Semitic
incidents in Canada is "perhaps...because
many Canadians have familial links with
eastern Europe."

Frank Dimant, executive
vice-president of the international
organization, was reported to have made
his remarks in an article that appeared
March 15 [1994] in the Toronto
Star.

The Estonian Central Council in Canada,
the Lithuanian Canadian Community, the
Canadian Polish Congress, and the
Ukrainian Canadian Congress are united in
condemning his implications.

Mr. Dimant went on to say: "Since the
demise of communism, churches are
re-emerging. But the mentality there
remains mired in the '20s and '30s when
Jews were vilified." He also claimed that
the acts of harassment and vandalism
directed against Jews in Canada were
committed by "people who say they are
defending Christian values."

A joint communique by the four
associations labels the statements made by
Mr. Dimant as baseless and abhorrent, and
particularly repugnant from an
organization that is so active in
identifying and attempting to eradicate
racial and religious hatred.

Defining eastern Europeans as
anti-Semitic is an abhorrent manifestation
of racism, which along with the
anti-Semitism that unfortunately exists in
many countries throughout the world, must
be wiped out. Speculating that Canadians
of eastern Europeans origin are
anti-Semites and insinuating that they are
responsible for the rise in anti-Semitic
incidents in Canada is malicious and
absurd. By doing so, he has maligned
millions of Canadians ranging from our
Governor-General to youngsters barely
aware of their ethnic origin.

It was equally offensive of Mr. Dimant
to state that those who commit racially
inspired crimes, especially those linked
to the so-called neo-Nazi movement, hold
themselves to be "defending Christian
values." There is absolutely no evidence
of this, and such a remark denigrates all
Christians.

The ultimate effect of Mr. Dimant's
invective is to undermine the good
relations that the vast majority of
Canadians of diverse ethnic origins and
religious affiliations have built up in
Canada and strikes at the heart of
tolerance that all Canadians
cherish.

The
above news item is reproduced without editing other
than typographical